"Life is like surfing a good wave. We have those moments where you feel as though you are on the top of the world and those where your life comes crashing down all around you."
Ainsley Matthews, ex-pro surfer, has been though a lot in the past. From...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - S I X Safety
deck: the top portion of a surfboard.
"Dad" I say, my response short. "What are you even doing here?"
He slides into the seat beside my mother as she moves over to the edge of the bench. "I think that's quite obvious. Your mom invited me to join you for breakfast. There's some things we have to discuss".
"This feels like some sort of an intervention. The last time I had a meeting with the two of you together was before I got admitted to the psych ward" I say before taking a sip of my coffee.
"Ainsley enough!" my mother exclaims, shocked that I would bring that up in a restaurant. Her raised voice drew attention to us from other patrons seated near us.
"Your mother is just worried, and she has every right to be".
"Worried about what dad?" I exclaim. "The fact that I've been put through more shit than any teenager should ever have to deal with. A best friend dying, a father leaving. What could possibly be worse than that?"
The two of them go silent at my comment, unsure of what to say.
"I know that it was wrong for me to leave, it wasn't easy for me either having to leave you especially after hearing about what happened to Crystal" my dad says. Since he left this was the first time he ever seemed sorry for leaving, usually he would say it's because that was what he had to do. "Things between your mother and I were tough. I wasn't the man she expected me to be and I knew you both would be better off without me".
At his words my mother gently placed her hands against his arm as if to say it was okay. "It was for the best. We never meant for it to turn out the way that it did however. We were supposed to co-parent but your father got a job he couldn't turn down as you know".
"So he chose a job over me? Just lovely".
The conversation was thankfully halted by the waiter returning with our food as she took the order for my father immediately after.
We sat in silence for a few moments as we began eating. It wasn't until my mouth was stuffed full of french toast that my mother took use of the advantage to speak.
"We're not here to discuss your father leaving Ainsley. There's bigger things than that. Are you sure that you are mentally and emotionally ready to surf and compete again?"
"We don't want to see what happened to you with Crystal occur again" my father adds in.
"You don't get a say in this" I exclaim pointing to my father. "You left. And mom, this is my life. I get to choose what I do with it. If you don't want to support me that's fine, but I don't need your judgment right now either".
I stabbed my fork down into my french toast, letting out my anger as I was trying to contain myself to not cause a scene.
"This is important Ainsley" my mother says sternly as she eyes me over her cup of coffee. "You're not doing this because Dawson pressured you... right?"
